Question On Shot Snake Heads

[Tim Crosby]

 First: I hope you, Jeff don't mind me using one of your Pic. Also, I have "Gettin' The Lead Out" by Karl Smith but still have questions.
 In his original post Jeff mentions a patted date of "1886" my question is how early were spouts like this used in N. America, granted this one dates itself and what other kind of spouts were used. I'm thinking of the everyday guy that used a smooth bore and carried shot in a container of some sort, be it a Shot Snake, leather flask, Copper flask horn, Glass bottle, etc... Any ideas on how early Shot Snakes were used?
 Another, I'm sure it depended on the duration of the hunt, the load and what was being hunted, in the case of a Market Hunter I'm sure it was measured in Pounds but I wonder; how much shot would be carried.

 Thanks, Tim

[Steve-In]

On the Drake site they show a couple of examples of cased guns with shot snakes and shot flasks in them.  Now they may have been added at any time after the gun was made.  There is one example of a cased gun circa 1790 with a shot snake.  So if it was available in England then it should have been here in at least the bigger Eastern cities. 
http://www.sitemason.com/gallery/he3HKo?id=94607
There are several cased guns on this site that show shot flasks and snakes.
http://www.drake.net/

[James Rogers]

The earliest I have seen snake belts in England was 1760s. This is thru painted images and historical writings.
The heads differed somewhat to what we see today which is based on 19th century design.

[bigsmoke]

IIRC, the shot snakes we made at October Country held about 3 pounds of #5 shot, if they were completely filled.  That should be more than adequate for a good day's dove hunting.  Probably even for a bad day's dove hunting.   

John

[Pukka Bundook]

All I can say is shot belts are earlier than shot flasks, and the Irish top tends to be earlier than the common spring -loaded cut -off. (Like the one on the right, Tim)
When then Irish top is withdrawn, shot can run out if you don't wear and use it correctly.  Not so with your newer style on the left.

My understanding is for a lot of shooting, the normal shot -belt would be re-filled as required, rather than cumber yourself up carrying ungainly amounts all the time.
In England, extra shot was carried on the horses and flasks/belts filled as required.

All best,
R.